Music, Growth, and Wisdom: The Educational Thought of Carl Orff and Alfred North Whitehead Master of Education Thesis Department of Educational Foundations University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan By Susan Colette Bischoff © S. Colette Bischoff, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 2009. All Rights Reserved PERMISSION TO USE I hereby grant to the University of Saskatchewan and/or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or for the duration of my copyright ownership. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis. I also reserve the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis. I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter that is included in my thesis, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Educational Foundations University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X1 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am sincerely grateful to those who have travelled with me on this educational journey. A special thank you must be given to my thesis supervisor Dr. Howard Woodhouse, whose amazing insight inspired me throughout the writing process. Thanks also to Dr. Mark Flynn for acting as an advisory committee member, Dr. Dianne Miller, oral defense chair, and Dr. Peter Purdue, external examiner. I appreciate the generosity of all who invested time and effort on my behalf. I am extremely grateful to my extended family, dear friends, and colleagues for their interest and support. Finally, I am indebted to my husband Wayne and my children Laura, Adam, and Anthony for it was your love, patience, encouragement, and devotion that gave me strength to continue this challenging but rewarding journey. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to the children and teachers who have enriched my life. iii ABSTRACT This thesis demonstrates how an interdisciplinary, organic music program built on the theory of Alfred North Whitehead and the practice of Carl Orff fosters freedom, imagination, creative expression, discipline, and wisdom so that children may learn about themselves, others, and the living world through an interdisciplinary approach to music. The thesis also addresses the failure of music educators to fully recognize and embrace the compatibility of Orff and Whitehead’s work and the subsequent deficiency of school systems to provide aesthetic experiences through elementary music programs that develop wisdom. The thesis underlines the importance of education that enables balanced growth in children; provides an historical perspective on the factors that contributed to the development of Orff’s Schulwerk; emphasizes the importance of arts education in Whitehead’s educational philosophy; and provides a constructive proposal for a music education program utilizing the philosophy and practice of Whitehead and Orff. The potentiality for music education and a process-based approach combining the work of Orff and Whitehead designed to nurture growth and wisdom and help children live life to the fullest, are underscored. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE…………………………………………………………………..i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………...ii DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………..iii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..iv TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………...v CHAPTER ONE: Connecting the Disconnected – Rethinking the Aims of Education I. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….....1 II. Carl Orff and the Powers of Music Education……………………………............6 III. An Interconnected Growth Process……………………………………….............7 IV. Play and Discipline…………………………………………………......................8 V. Growth in Nature and in Humans………………………………...……………...10 VI. Whitehead, Wisdom, and Art Education………………………….......................13 VII. Arts Education, Beauty, and Wisdom……………………………………………16 VIII. Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………….…..18 IX. Purpose of the Thesis…………………………………………………...………..19 X. Methodology………………………………………………………......................21 XI. Definition of Key Concepts………………………………………………….…..23 XII. Outline of Chapters……………………………………………………………....24 CHAPTER TWO: Orff Schulwerk: Music Education for the Whole Child I. Structure of the Chapter…………………………………………………............26 II. From Beginnings to Fruition…………………………………………….............26 III. The Essence of Orff-Schulwerk…………………………………………............35 IV. Instruments for Exploration and Expression…………………………………….36 V. Reflections on the Orff Classroom………………………………………............41 VI. The Power of the Schulwerk to Enhance the Playful, Joyful, Moral and Imaginative Capacities of Children……………………………………………...44 CHAPTER THREE: Alfred North Whitehead and the Joys of Arts Education I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………...47 II. Educating for the Fullness of Life……………………………………………….48 III. Rhythmic Cycles of Growth……………………………………………………..51 IV. Knowledge and Wisdom………………………………………………………...55 V. Artistic Activity, An Integrated Curriculum, Bodily Feelings, and the Art of Life……………………………………………………………………………57 VI. Reflections on the Relationship of Whiteheadian Educational Philosophy to My Own Teaching……………………………………………………………………59 v CHAPTER FOUR: Orff and Whitehead in the Classroom: Fostering Growth and Wisdom Through Music Education I. Chapter Outline…………………………………………………..........................63 II. Philosophical Principles of an Organic Music Education…………......................65 III. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….....72 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………….....74 vi Chapter One Connecting the Disconnected - Rethinking the Aims of Education We must seek out such artists as have character and thus are able to express the beautiful and noble. Then our youths will live in a healthful land, and everything will benefit them that drifts across from beautiful works to the eye and the ear, like a breeze that brings health from good fields. From childhood on it will form them insensibly like a beautiful poem, and it will give them love for such, and harmony. Yes, that would be the most glorious kind of education. (Plato, “The Republic”) I. Introduction Childhood is a time of gradual change and growth during which we gain an understanding of the world beyond self. It is a time when we are most impressionable, and open to discovering what we love. The ancient Greeks believed that guiding this notion of love, ‘passionate desire’, or erõs, in ways that develop goodness, was the ultimate goal of education (Garrison, 1997, p. xiii). Whiteheadian scholar, John Cobb, argues that education should enable moral goodness, or "strength of beauty", in the learner's soul by enhancing aesthetic value, celebrating community, and helping children appreciate their relationships with the natural world (Cobb, 1998, pp. 106-107). This comprehensive notion of valuing is the basis upon which non-coercive relationships with other human beings and with nature can be built. The maximization of private wealth, however, has resulted in self-indulgence, poverty for many human beings, and enormous damage to the planet. Examples of the latter include pollution of the air, water, and land, ecosystems destroyed for use by human beings, cities running out of space to dispose of their garbage, and global warming (Daly and Cobb, 1994, pp. 449-455). Educators have a responsibility to counteract this dominant trend by reestablishing an awareness of the need for unity among people, as well as balance between the human and natural worlds. Students who learn about the relationships among different disciplines are more likely to develop strength of beauty, and understand and be able to express their connectedness with other people, nature, and the universe, than those who are only exposed to separate, discrete disciplines. In reality, problems are 2 interconnected, and knowledgeable individuals working together from different perspectives can recognize this interdependence in ways that 'experts' who plough a single furrow cannot (Daly and Cobb, 1994, pp. 133-137). Unfortunately, much of my experience as an educator leads me to believe that Saskatchewan schools do not always assist students to develop an understanding of their connectedness with the universe. In consultation with colleagues in various strands of arts education, there is a resounding chorus of concern surrounding issues such as course scheduling, curriculum expectations, and limited university programming for prospective teachers in the areas of music, dance, drama, and visual arts. As a result, the quality of the arts and aesthetic experiences for students in the province suffers and the interest in them declines. Many educators have noticed a decline in enrolments in arts education classes at the high school level. The current reality is that even though the potential of interdisciplinary education is known and some efforts are being made to effect change in schools, quality arts education does not occur in every school or every classroom. Some positive efforts include teachers being actively involved in member organizations such as the Saskatchewan Music Educators’ Association or the local chapter of Carl Orff Canada Music for Children; the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education’s early learning initiative, as documented in “Play and Exploration” (2008), which is based largely on the Reggio Emilio approach to early childhood education; and an effort by one particular Saskatchewan school division to implement a special program designed to teach curricular areas such as language arts, math, history, social studies, and science through visual art, music, drama, and dance. Unfortunately, this program has only been granted the funding required for three out of thirty-seven elementary schools and from conversations with some of the teachers involved, I believe that their personal connection with the arts, and willingness to explore and implement alternative pedagogies will be a determining factor in the program's success or failure. While the majority of teachers recognize the potential of the program, a few remain skeptical for two main reasons. First, they are not convinced that it is possible to cover all the curricular content through an interdisciplinary, artistic approach. Second, their own artistic and creative life experience is limited, so that they 3 tend to rely on the artist as expert rather than as co-teacher. Whitehead believes the arts are powerful in their ability to assist in the development of ‘active wisdom’, or the mastery of knowledge through “the habit of the active utilisation of well-understood principles” (1929, pp. 30, 37). The imaginative process enables the child or adult to visualize or create new images and ideas that provide alternative possibilities for feeling, thinking, and acting in ways different from those predominant in reality. He considers imagination a central element in the creative process of growth, which constitutes the education of human beings since the imagination is a unifying force in life (1929, p. 93). This approach, however, is too often absent from schooling today as large class sizes, outcomes evaluation, standardized testing, tangible reward systems, compartmentalization of disciplines, and teaching primarily for content all militate against it. For example, a class with a large number of students may have time and space constraints restricting the effectiveness of active learning. Space restrictions will make it very challenging to foster an environment that promotes learning through means involving any physical movement, variety in seating arrangements, or the set up of learning materials that the students can use for discovery, exploration, and their growing capacity for wisdom. Because of large class sizes, the teacher may not have enough time in the school day to interact on an individual basis with students, attend to their needs, and challenge them to become creative, reflective thinkers. Alternatively, s/he may try to enable students to do their school work by providing them with tangible rewards, possibly making them dependent on extrinsic rewards rather than the intrinsic value that comes from active wisdom, sometimes described as a love for “deep knowing” (Oliver and Gershman, 1989, p.176). Even though evidence is lacking to suggest schooling is the primary factor in determining an employee’s productivity, teachers and administrators often feel pressured by various sectors of society to place an overriding emphasis on skills training in the hopes of “preparing tomorrow’s workers” (Kohn, 2007). Kohn indicates that this way of thinking can cause a shift in the curricular focus, thereby placing a disproportionate